That was the outcry on the Star Wars Galaxies forums after SOE, at the behest of LucasArts, turned that now-shut-down MMO into more or less a World of Warcraft clone rather than the sandbox, open-world, fully player-driven game it was designed to be. And those forums were as saturated by that outcry as we see Destiny 2 players denouncing the Eververse…

Did SOE listen. Hell no! In fact, what they did first was to make the forums UNREADABLE by non-subscribers. That way, potential players would not be exposed to the wide-spread negative feedback from the community. But SOE had no control over the spilling-over of anti-NGE sentiment into many different unofficial gaming media forums. So SOE once again allowed the forums to be readable regardless of subscription status. However, they began mass-deletion of threads that called for rollbacks, and if people reposted them they got banned for it. It happened to me, so I speak from experience, not just observation.

So what does this have to do with Destiny 2?

Simple… If you think the outcry against the EverVerse is going to accomplish anything, you are deluding yourself. They control the narrative of their forums. They will do their best to silence voices of outrage and dis-satisfaction before they take one single step towards reducing or removing the EverVerse connection to Destiny 2. I really would like to be wrong about that. I really would. But, sadly, I don’t think I will be. In fact, I think they will TRIPPLE-DOWN on Eververse, as if doubling-down on it wasn’t enough. Their eyes are filled with dollar signs, and to them the EverVerse is THE ticket to unlimited profit…

We cannot trust them to accede to the wishes of their customers. Their customers will have to collectively decide that as long as the EverVerse remains Bungie’s focus, to the marginalization of all other considerations, that they will not spend a penny of real money on it at the least dedication, and at the most to not even play the game. That and continue to proclaim outrage and dis-satisfaction in every avenue available. If the community is really serious, then it needs to behave accordingly.